Sex scandal: Bail on health ground for accused

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 17: A local court today granted interim bail on health ground to senior IAS officer Iqbal Khandey, an accused in the Kashmir sex scandal. Khandey, arrested by the CBI on June 29, is the first out of the 18 arrested to be granted bail by the court citing ‘‘gravity of the disease’’ afflicting him as the major reason behind the decision.
Khandey’s bail application had been rejected by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, on July 18.

‘‘One important aspect of the matter cannot be lost sight of. The accused has admittedly undergone surgery as he was diagnosed to have cancer of the lower lobe of the left lung,’’ the order issued by the Principal Sessions Judge Muhammad Yaqoob Mir said. He also directed Khandey to submit Rs 1 lakh for the bail and another Rs 1 lakh as surety.

The order refers to Khandey’s medical report by a team of specialist doctors from Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences which says that the accused, being lodged in a crowded room in Central Jail, ‘‘is likely to contract chest infection of both specific and non-specific nature which can prove quite adverse’’.

‘‘In case the accused, because of the serious disease loses his life, then who will be tried and against whom will the order of conviction on proof be passed,’’ the order said.
However, the court has put strict restrictions on Khandey outside the jail. ‘‘The accused shall not leave the limits of Srinagar district without prior permission of this court,’’ the order said and also ordered Khandey ‘‘not to attempt to influence the prosecution witnesses in any manner, directly or indirectly’’.

It also directed Khandey to ‘‘ensure his presence before this court on each and every date of hearing without any excuse except for acceptable just cause’’.

Discounting the CBI counsel’s argument that the accused was likely to ‘‘give a slip to law’’ in case he was granted bail, the court said that Khandey ‘‘is a son of the soil, is deeply rooted, has his family, property, everything’’ in Kashmir.

The court also heard the bail pleas of two former ministers, Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Raman Mattoo, as also the alleged kingpin Sabeena and her husband Hamid Bulla, Mehraj Din Malik and and Shabir Kala, both alleged pimps. The court reserved its judgement on the matter and posted their applications for hearing on Friday. The court also heard arguments of the defence lawyer and the CBI counsel on the chargesheet.